Perdu and Max don’t have any money to buy food, so they ask the women on the boat if they have any extra supplies for dinner. The women invite Perdu and Max to dine on their boat, the Baloo. They eat, drink, dance, and play games. Being with the women and hearing their stories makes Perdu think about Manon.

Perdu has a dream that he can breathe underwater. Upon waking, he sees that Max has fallen asleep reading Southern Lights. Perdu borrows a bike from the women on the Baloo and rides into town where he trades a few books for food and supplies. Perdu writes a postcard to Catherine, addressing it to everyone at number 27 because he knows they’ll all read it. Perdu longs for Catherine and for Manon.

Perdu and Max cast off again, continuing to head south through the network of canals. Max tells Perdu that his dream means that he’s, “no longer choked” by his emotions (146). The men take Lulu through the first of 150 locks on their journey to the Mediterranean.

Plotting their next stop, Perdu realizes that they’re passing near the home of a famous American writer, P. D. Olson. Olson is one of the 11 authors Perdu thinks may have written Southern Lights.